The Mark of the Beast
by Essie Aster
Summary: A rewrite of the Rudyard Kipling short story (I couldn't find a better category to put it under :P) alternate POV.


A/N: Again my creative writing teacher has come up with a pointless assignment that I made into something entertaining. We were told to rewrite a short story from another character's perspective (an assignment many English teachers would have balked at). The speaker in this was not originally in Rudyard Kipling's version, but she tells the story through her husband's (Alex) Strickland's perspective. Since the original narrator had no name in the story I made up the name Marcus Walker. I also gave Strickland's character a first name, Alex. Anywho, enjoy reading.  
  
The Mark of the Beast  
  
The events that I speak of today happened four years ago. I was not there, nor at the time did I know any of the men involved in the incident, but days ago I received a detailed account of the events from my husband, Alex Strickland. He was hesitant to tell me at first, and now I understand why. It seems impossible what happened, and while I am still not certain I believe what happened, I know Alex does. He has been unable to speak to anyone about it for four years, almost to the day.  
  
His story starts on New Years Eve of 1890. He and his friends, John Fleete and Marcus Walker had been partying and drinking. On their way home they passed a temple to Hanuman, the Indian monkey-god. So inebriated was Mr. Fleete that he lacked any sort of judgement. In a drunken fit he entered the temple and defiled the idol by grinding the ashes of his cigar into the forehead of the red stone image of Hanuman. While my husband and Mr. Walker were carrying Mr. Fleete away a leper grabbed hold of Mr. Fleete and mewed a curse on the poor drunk. Alex said the leper's actions were the only things that would calm the infuriated priests. Mr. Fleete stayed the night at Alex's house and in the morning Mr. Walker returned to check on his friend. Alex told me that Mr. Fleete was feeling rather ill, had a strange black mark on his chest, and was ravenously hungry and would only eat rare meat, a curious combination if I may say so.  
  
When the trio went to the stables to ride the horses later that day Alex said the horses were terrified of Mr. Fleete. In the end Mr. Fleete stayed behind and allowed Alex and Mr. Walker to ride alone on the exhausted beasts. As they rode they passed the temple and saw the leper again. By the time they returned the cold night had already fallen, but oddly enough Mr. Fleete was out in the garden. Again the horses were terrified of him and Alex and Mr. Walker had to return the horses to the stables before interrogating Mr. Fleete. Once inside the house they were able to see that Mr. Fleete was covered head to foot in dirt, which makes me wonder what the man was really doing in the garden. It certainly could not have been gardening, for I have never seen someone get that filthy from digging in the earth. Added to which it was after dark with no celestial lights or candles for Mr. Fleete to see by.  
  
In any event, Mr. Fleete went up to his room while my husband and Mr. Walker ordered supper. They were halted midway by what Alex described as a 'long-drawn howl of a wolf' coming from Mr. Fleete's room. After a second howl, the two men ran up the stairs and found Mr. Fleete near his window. It took both of them to restrain him and tie him. They gagged him and brought him down stairs into the light. Alex said, 'he was a beast, a monster possessing the body of a man.' Though they sent for the doctor, they both new there was nothing science could do for Mr. Fleete. Just before the doctor arrived the men began to hear mewing outside the house.  
  
When the doctor arrived he could offer no help. He said it was hydrophobia, for Mr. Fleete owned several terriers, well advanced. Mr. Fleete was dying. Being the kind man that he is, Alex denied the doctor's offer to stay until Mr. Fleete died and as soon as the doctor left he told Mr. Walker of his suspicions. Alex said Mr. Walker was in disbelief and argued, 'Suppose the Silver Man (the leper) had bewitched Fleete for dishonouring the image of Hanuman? Even so, the punishment could not have fallen so quickly.'  
  
Just then they heard a cry from outside and the beast that had once been Mr. Fleete went into a fit. This happened a few times before Alex and Mr. Walker planned and set about the capture of who they assumed was the leper outside. The man was naked when they brought him in and refused to speak until he was tortured by my husband. Near dawn the leper broke and released Mr. Fleete from the curse of Hanuman. They let the leper go and soon the doctor came with a nurse to take care of the body of Mr. Fleete. However, the doctor was surprised, and I believe insulted, to discover Mr. Fleete in full consciousness (lacking the memory of the previous twenty four hours) and quite recovered.  
  
Alex said they never told Mr. Fleete what had happened and momentarily went quite mad together after pondering the events. I believe it was the passage of another New Years and Alex's seeing Mr. Walker again that brought all this to the surface. I find it curious though that two men in good standing could share the same delusions. But I promised my husband before he told his tale that I would not judge him harshly because of it, and to that I will hold. For now I end this account and leave it to be judged by a clear mind in the future. 


End file.
